Daily Photo Galleries

Dining Out Photo Galleries

After eight years of operating his own butcher shop and small cafe in Santa Cruz, Calif., chef Justin Severino was on the verge of signing a loan document for a much larger space that would have kept him in the Golden State.

And he just couldn't do it.

"It would have cost $3 million to do this in the Bay Area. I won't say how much it cost here, but it was a whole lot less," Severino says.

"Here" is Cure, his 50-seat restaurant in Lawrenceville, where Severino promulgates at least two definitions of the word "cure."

One is the curing he does after butchering and preparing his meats, including pancetta, a traditional Italian bacon he makes from pork belly.

The other is the cure the restaurant provides for a diner's hunger. But the restaurant also seems to provide a cure for Severino's hankering for high-quality, locally grown food with a definite flair.

"Sometimes, people try too hard with food," says Severino, 33, of Mt. Washington. "Sometimes, the best food is five ingredients -- as long as the ingredients are high-quality."

Severino, a native of Ashtabula, Ohio, began learning the importance of high-quality ingredients when he trained at the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute, from which he graduated in 1999. Then he worked for six years under expert California chefs before opening Severino's Community Butcher in 2005 in Santa Cruz.

But his and his wife's families were back in the East. The two returned to Pittsburgh in 2007 to be closer to relatives. Severino worked as sous chef at Eleven and executive chef at the 350-seat Elements restaurant before opening Cure.

"It was an adjustment, but I really love it," he says of his new situation. "I feel there's a lot of change in Pittsburgh."

Severino says there's a growing movement of diners who want to know where your food comes from. "Once they get the concept of local food, they think, 'What part of the animal am I missing?'" he says.

Now Severino considers himself part of "something unique and different that had some potential" in an up-and-coming neighborhood. The section of Lawrenceville where Cure sits is seeing an influx of new food-related businesses, such as Allegheny Wine Bar and Wild Purveyors. And he sees a collegiality of like-minded chefs in the area who are attempting to offer a higher level of culinary arts in comfortable settings.

Cure offers from-scratch foods, often served family-style. Severino's polenta dish, for instance, is served in traditional Italian fashion, on a wooden serving board. But he has raised the dish to a higher level by including pancetta and lavender.

Severino buys as much locally grown and raised produce and meats as possible. Among the pork products he has made from scratch and offered to diners are his Boudin Blanc (white chicken) sausage and Boudin Noir (blood) sausage dishes; the latter, for $28, is paired with sauerkraut and violet mustard.

But Cure offers many non-pork dishes, including fish, chicken and vegetarian dishes like mushroom risotto. A duck breast dish for $28 includes spiced red cabbage, parsnip and cocoa. The spaghetti and chicken meatballs for $16 include tomato sauce, capers, golden raisins and anchovies.

Severino created many farm meals in California that were held in barns. He's planning to do an Outstanding in the Field dinner Aug. 26 at Blackberry Meadows, a Community Supported Agriculture farm in Natrona Heights. And he ultimately hopes to hold farm meals in the future somewhere in the area.

Severino's affinity for farms is partly why he chose the decor of horizontal barn wood walls, chicly accented with earth-toned paisley banquette upholstery. The tables and chairs in Cure are refinished vintage pieces. Because the 80-year-old refinished tables had to be bolted to the uneven original hardwood floors for stability, Severino couldn't move the tables for larger parties. So, he devised leaves to insert between the table surfaces for additional diners. The leaves bring the total for potential diners to 58, including four stools in the kitchen area.

The decor helps create what Severino calls "a warm, inviting environment where people are having fun."

Adding to the fun are whimsical porcine figurines, including the statue of a pig that's often placed outside the restaurant, a ceramic pig's head on the wall and figurines on a shelf.

"We're, in a way, starting to cultivate a new culture of food in Pittsburgh," Severino says. "People in Pittsburgh are so hungry for it."

And for that hunger, Severino has the Cure.

Polenta with Pancetta and Mushrooms

Justin Severino has fond memories of family gatherings in his hometown of Ashtabula, Ohio, where traditional Italian dishes were served family-style.

Severino, whose heritage is mostly Italian with a bit of Native American, says he ate polenta twice a week. He prefers to serve polenta in traditional Italian peasant fashion, family-style on a large wooden board. But he has put his own tasty, modern twists on the traditional dish by using mushrooms, pancetta, beet greens and lavender.

"We do a lot of family-style service," Severino says of Cure. "It allows people to share. There's a whole lot more to a meal than just the food."

To prepare the polenta: Heat the 3 ounces olive oil in a thick-bottom pot over medium heat, then add the shallots and garlic. Saute over medium heat until the shallots and garlic are soft and sweet. To this, add the milk, taking care not to scald. Gradually add the cornmeal to the mixture, whisking constantly. When the mixture thickens, continue mixing with a wooden spoon to avoid burning the bottom. The process will take about an hour. If preparing the other elements of the recipe takes more time, the polenta mixture can be set aside at this point.

To prepare the mushrooms : Chop the pancetta into small cubes, and pull apart the mushrooms. Heat the 1⁄2 ounce olive oil over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook at a lower temperature until it is crispy and transparent. When the pancetta is crispy, turn up the heat so the cold mushrooms, when added, do not lower the temperature of the ingredients in the pan. Add the mushrooms and beet greens, and stir until wilted .

To prepare the lavender-olive sauce: Puree the olives, lavender and 3 ounces olive oil in a blender until smooth .

To prepare for the table: Blend the Pecorino Romano cheese and creme fraiche into the polenta. Spread the thickened polenta on a large, clean wooden board. Place a long slice of the Taleggio cheese on top of the polenta, then garnish the edges with the pancetta-mushroom mixture. Health-conscious cooks can drain the pancetta mixture before garnishing. Top with the lavender-olive sauce.

TribLive commenting policy

You are solely responsible for your comments and by using TribLive.com you agree to our Terms of Service.

We moderate comments. Our goal is to provide substantive commentary for a general readership. By screening submissions, we provide a space where readers can share intelligent and informed commentary that enhances the quality of our news and information.

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderating decisions are subjective. We will make them as carefully and consistently as we can. Because of the volume of reader comments, we cannot review individual moderation decisions with readers.

We value thoughtful comments representing a range of views that make their point quickly and politely. We make an effort to protect discussions from repeated comments  either by the same reader or different readers.

We follow the same standards for taste as the daily newspaper. A few things we won't tolerate: personal attacks, obscenity, vulgarity, profanity (including expletives and letters followed by dashes), commercial promotion, impersonations, incoherence, proselytizing and SHOUTING. Don't include URLs to Web sites.

We do not edit comments. They are either approved or deleted. We reserve the right to edit a comment that is quoted or excerpted in an article. In this case, we may fix spelling and punctuation.

We welcome strong opinions and criticism of our work, but we don't want comments to become bogged down with discussions of our policies and we will moderate accordingly.

We appreciate it when readers and people quoted in articles or blog posts point out errors of fact or emphasis and will investigate all assertions. But these suggestions should be sent via e-mail. To avoid distracting other readers, we won't publish comments that suggest a correction. Instead, corrections will be made in a blog post or in an article.

Print Source

Welcome to PrintSource, a division of Trib Total Media.

We have established a veteran team that provides daily and weekly newspaper companies with a comprehensive set of services that include design, print, packaging and delivery of their products, all from one source and location.

Gone are the days when each facet of newspaper printing and delivery had to be outsourced to different companies and venues. Now, PrintSource provides a viable solution with just one phone call.

Digital Sales

We offer a wide variety of traditional and new digital advertising options customized to fit your needs!

Whether you're just starting out, or you've been a keystone in the community for years, our knowledgeable staff can provide you with a customized package including online banners/advertisements, Social Media Marketing (Facebook / Twitter), Website development, Search Engine Optimization, Email Marketing solutions and much more!

Contact your local sales rep today for details, personalized proposal and a meeting to discuss how we can meet your needs.